Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna banned for 2 years

September 16, 2012

Bupathi_BopannaNew Delhi, September 16: Even before the jubilation of the Davis Cup triumph had died down, the shock ban on Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) shocked the tennis fraternity late on Saturday.
The AITA will stick to the young Indian side and will not include Bhupathi and Bopanna in the Davis Cup squad until the country moves up from the Asia/Oceania Group.

The young guns have given India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the relegation play-off tie against New Zealand and the national federation wants them to carry forward the good work in the 2013 season when India will strive to re-enter World Group.

"The young Indian team has done well. After a long time our team is 3-0 up. In Asia/Oceania zone, it will be good to continue with a young team," AITA president Anil Khanna told PTI.

It is a clear indication that Bhupathi and Bopanna, who have been ousted from the side on the count of indiscipline, will have to wait for a long time to return to the side.

India cannot reach the World Group play-off stage before the end of 2013 season since it will have to play atleast two ties in Asia Oceania group to reach that stage.

It is not clear if AITA will consider Leander Paes for the Asia/Oceania tie. Paes missed the ongoing tie as he preferred to play for a club in World Team tennis.


"It was decided in the AITA executive committee meeting here today that Bhupathi and Bopanna will not be considered for selection up till June 30, 2014," the AITA stated in a release.

The two players had objected to partnering Leander Paes at the London Olympics. Following which AITA sent two doubles team - one of Bhupathi and Boppana, and the other of Paes and Vishnu Vardhan.


AITA also decided to go in with a new-look and young team for the ongoing Davis Cup for India's home encounter against New Zealand.


And Bhupathi has already come up with an angry reaction on the Twitter. "The cranky old grand fathers on the executive committee, who have never played tennis waiting for a reaction? There is one coming.stay tuned!," tweeted the veteran.



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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: India skipper Virat Kohli has said that the 2014 Test series against England was the lowest point of his career.

He made the revelation during a candid Instagram Live session with former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

To date, the 2014 Test series in England remains one of the worst Test series for Kohli as he averaged just 13.40 from 10 ten innings with his highest score being 39.

"I felt like as a batsman, you know you are going to get out in the morning as soon as you wake up. That was the time I felt like that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail, was something that ate me up," Kohli told Pietersen.

However, just four years later, Kohli made a triumphant return to England as he scored a century in the opening Test of the 2018 series and finished as the highest run-getter in the series.

Kohli told Pietersen that the performance in 2014 came because he was just thinking about his own batting.

"2014 series happened, for all the younger guys listening, because I was too focused on doing well from a personal point of view. I wanted to get runs. I could never think of what does the team want me to do in this situation," Kohli said.

"I just got too engulfed with England tour - if I perform here, Test cricket, in my mind I am going to feel established and all that crap on the outside, which is not important at all," he added.
During the chat, Kohli talked about his favourite format in cricket and he also revealed the main reason for turning into a vegan.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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